BLACK & BLUE


Blue scarf & blue shoes
Black pants, blouse & sun glasses
Touch a corona

LAST DAY


Girls from the red cross
Add seasonings to their food
Offshore wind with us

EXTERNAL BENCH


She explains
The dark side of the moon
To her children
In excellent Spanish

She explains eclipses
And the boys look up
Into the night
And I do the same

She explains change
In temperature
Astronomical whims
And their consequences

For a moment
I think of telling them
The mystery of
The sleeping rabbit
But this would be better
On a full moon

I decide to watch them
To listen to them
From a distance

As I wait
For my turn
For whatever happens
For the night to go on
For me to go home
And go to bed

MUSIC STOP


They did not flash their
Blue and red lights at me
They just honked
With that awkward sound
That rescue vehicles made

I stopped on the side
Of the road
And they asked me
If I worked at the
Plaza del Zapato

I thought that
Was funny but I answered no
And then they asked
If I played with the band
THE CATS IN THE ROOF
And I thought that was even funnier

And I told them that I did not
But that I was a musician
And they said I look
Like a musician

And then one of the cops said
That he liked to jam
I asked if he played guitar
And he said that he sings
And he began to sing
First a song that
I did not recognized
And then one from
The Black Crows
And he stood there
Singing in the night

SALES


“Hey sunshine!”

I looked around
To find the source
Of that voice

Those feminine
Vocal chords
That uttered
Those words

I greeted her
She was young
Blond & pretty

I have never
Seen this one before

Then she tried
To sell me
A spa package

She said
That she could
Even give me
A massage

I thank her
And she gave me
Her business card

I knew she
Would not buy
A microwave radio

She was selling me
A microwave service

4 AM


Again
The singing bird
This morning competes
With the Wall Street Journal
Radio show

They play an excerpt
Of a song that says:

“I need you”
“I need you”

They played it twice
And I understand why
It is because
The like winning

But the bird sings
Longer & better
And it’s definitely
A natural

I walk outside
To congratulate
The winner
But it flies away

So I enter the kitchen
And drink some water
Then go back to sleep
But it starts singing again

I go outside
It flies away
I go back inside
And read out loud
Then I go to bed

WIRE FENCE


A bunch of birds
Have descended on my homestead
Perhaps it was the night cry
Of my visitor
That consistent
Nocturnal song

And now all these different birds
From different families
Are gathered

And I have to endure
That song
That sound

And it sometimes
Wakes me up
Last time
It was competing
With classical music

And I guess
It is all worth it
To get to see them
And hear them

They help me think
I live in the
Garden of Eden

MORNING

I rest on my bed
Humming bird on the window
Remembering you

different might be better


took care
of some dirty laundry
and drove
down the hill
to get some coffee

said hello
to a friend
and met a new one

from my table
i could see
the guy from
channel 12

he was paying
for some food
at the cash registered

he looks different
in person

perhaps he
should no be
so much in tv

puzzle


you came at midday
complementing my black boots
not enough for you

BE ALWAYS ON TIME & NEVER BE LATE


Sounds like
Sound advice to me

Sounds like
The music of success

Sounds like
A sound machine

Sound pretty & sexy
Sounds like it should

I rather think of it this way
Otherwise the sound will remain
Regardless of anything & everything
You say or do

The sound of morality
The sound of correction
The sound of work
The sound of what is right

Punctuality

And we beat the
Herd of deer
To the top of the mountain

It was still dark
When I was offered coffee
And I drank it
With the cold dawn

It was still dark
As I checked my rifle
And handled my knife
Very carefully

It was still dark
As we climbed
The rough terrain
And I fell in love
With the boulders

It was still dark
As I thought
Of yesterday
Of how I pulled the trigger
And how I missed

It was still dark
But we weren’t late
Because we spotted them

We saw them climbing
Straight towards us
Towards our intentions
Towards our stomachs
Towards our desires
Towards our wagers
Towards our rifles

But it was not dark anymore
Because I could see them
Through my cross hairs
And if I moved them
A little to the right
Or a little to the left
I would see new images
On my scope
They stood there
Frozen like brand new cars

And then…
The sound
Yes that sound
That accompanies the flash
And the push
That playful push
Similar to that
Of an annoyed lover

And the mountain
Became a disco
Because everybody was dancing
And even though we
Could no see them
There were others among us
Making music
With their music machines

And I stood there
On top of the wilderness
And I thought the gun
On my hands
Must be a guitar
Because my knees
Were shaking

ONE OF THE REGULARS


King of simplicity
Resting on
A 3 branch

Fire Crest
Sucking honey
From the
Dangling flowers

Masked like
A vegetarian pistolero
Professional eater
Moves like a fall guy

You are always
Welcome here
You can stay
As long as you wish

WAITING

I look
I look real good
I like what I see
And when her eyes move
I move mine

Away…..

I don’t stare
I don’t want to tare
I do care

How your beauty travels
This short distance
Between us

You & me

So I look away
Try to focus my eyes
In nothing in particular
Just and excuse
To avoid your glance

A pretext
Not to follow
The miraculous light
Of your semblance

A reason
Not to be wounded
By your splendor

I look back and
Its too late
Your delightful face
Next to my chest
Too close
To my heart

THE CABIN


The bird’s crying
On the night
Once again

Its song now competes
With an infomercial
Where one of the actresses
Has your name & looks like you

The bird cries in the middle of the night
And I don’t dare turn off
The portable black & white TV

The dinner has been a lifesaver
And its aftertaste lingers
In my mouth
In a dry kind of way

I get up from bed and I still
Can feel my soar ribcage
I walk towards
The refrigerator to have
A cold drink

It tastes like heaven….

I get in bed again
And there’s yet another infomercial
About middle-aged women
Crazy about soy

I turn off the TV
And turn on the radio
I try to get comfortable
And listen to music

My winged friend
Singing through the night
And its songs are your kisses
Landing on my right side

EZ MIGRA


You look familiar
He said

I was going to tell you the same thing
I replied

Do you get sent to secondary often?
He pressed

Sometimes….
I interjected

Where are you going?
He asked

To where the view is beautiful
I answered

Where?
He insisted

Chula Vista
I explained

He looked
At his computer screen
And hit the keyboard
As his face turned stoical

THE MESSAGE

He said the love of God
Is like the sun
Like the light
That comes forth
From the sun

That’s how we grow he said
And as he was speaking
I thought of my friend
Who each morning
Looks up towards the heavens
Closes his eyes
And charges himself up

He said this is
Something we need to do
To take away obstructions
Hindrances like garbage
Including blankets

The way he spoke
So familiar
So poetic
He must be Russian

COFFEE TRIP

She asked if I wanted my coffee mug rinsed
I hesitantly said yes and she ordered her employee
To do just that

Then she said that her husband
Doesn’t like to rinse his because
He likes to capture the flavor
I smiled and told her that I understood

She asked if I like coffee very much
And I just smiled & waited for my coffee
She pressed with another question and
Asked if I am a coffee connoisseur

I noticed how she was holding her baby
She still had that glowing look
That pregnant women have
And I considered how beautiful
She must have been before her pregnancy
And how her current beauty has improved
Into something so powerful

I like caffeine
I answered affably and
I wondered if her husband
Was the nervous looking
Fellow that was snooping
On me the day before as I tried
To write some work
On their second floor

I did not loose track
Of the smiley customer with
Fine facial features
Who stood next to me
Working with her paper cup
Looking ready to go

I thank the barista & the owner’s wife
And they answered in unison
And it sounded beautiful
Like church choir

I walked outside and spotted
Fine facial features getting in
A red car and driving away

I got in my car
And turned the engine on
Towards my left
A young Chinese girl
Walked on the sidewalk
Playing with her hair

THE THINGS ONE HAS TO ENDURE

I slept & it was cold
I instantly pulled a blanket
For cover

But it was not the same
It disturbed my sleep
It was not right because

I dreamt that a crazy woman
Broke into the house
Took my favorite sweater
And left some currency
On the table

I got up
And looked for my garment
And did not find it
I walked towards the table and
Grabbed the bill

I looked at it
And thought about all the money
In the world
Then I thought on my green sweater

I envisioned
A mad witch
Wearing it
Sleeping with it
Touching the fabric
And doing other things
With it

Sometimes people do
Strange things while under hypnosis
Confused in good weather

ENTRANCE

Above the entrance
There is a saint
On a white horse
Killing a dragon

The server captain
Speaks Spanish
And he’s my friend

He knows all words
Good and bad
He likes to smile & he likes
To play as if
He is the cathedral

We like it here
We can play with our friends
The guy dressed in black
Is funny
We liked him too

I like the lion
I like the oxen
That guard the
Front pillars
Of the building

I like your 4 legged friends
For watching my back
As I approach the
Universal medicines

All these people
Speaking different languages
And eating at the same tables
Communicating with
Gestures and hand movements
I like that too

FOOD

We entered the commercial box
And stopped and the special corner
My associate was not convinced
But I did not cared that much
Because I was holing a cup of coffee
And I was happy

I concentrated on
The Chinese televisions
And examined them to see
If they were enhanced digitally

I could not find out
Because an extremely attractive
Human being entered
My field of vision

I gave the signal
And we moved towards
A comestibles area

We struggled to find lentils
I gave up and concentrated
On a feminists-style article
About drunk writers
That decorated the magazine rack

As I read a quote by Hemmingway
Which stated something like:
“I drink to tolerate the company of fools”

The most attractive
human being in the store
Was informing my brother
Were the find the lentils
And how to cook them

I lifted my eyes from
The rag I was speed-reading
To find a pretty woman
With an anchor embroidered
On her jacket
Chest level right side
Smiling at me

I told the boy who
Bagged our groceries
To have his eye-infection
Taken care of
The cashier pointed
Towards the pharmacy
And I looked at the medicine

We walked towards the car
And I was told we did not
Have the right spices
So we visited the local chain store

And there we did not find
Chinese televisions
But we did see Chinese
Girls walking the isles

They looked at me funny
As I read something
About exorcisms
Next to magazine rack

A Spanish song played
In the store’s PA
And I noticed two cashiers
Singing the words
One was dancing
To the rhythm

I approach the dancing cashier
And asked her if she could
Tell me what was the last part
Of the chorus she was singing

She said it was something like
“Put your lips all over me”
But that she was not sure
Then she smiled

I asked the other cashier
And she said the same thing
And she also smiled

We paid and my friend
Did not wait for the change
But hurried out of there
I thank them
Took the change
Said goodbye & left